Eagles

Dear Family and loved ones,

  This week I met a professional boxer who is the investigator of another Elder in our zone. He told me how his last match he would get $75 if he wins and $35 if he loses but then he gets paid another $550 if he loses. So he lost. 

  While we were teaching a less active member who lives off the railroad, her younger daughter prayed that her mommy would stop gambling. That was pretty great. From the mouth of babes. 

  So as we were teaching a new investigator and our member helper started telling him that we need to listen to our father, Jesus Christ. I think he realized later what he said because he clarified that we listen to the father and his son Jesus Christ. #ThatAwkwardMomentWhen your member helper teaches false doctrine. 

  I had a great Interview with my mission president this week and he gave me some great council in my new leadership positions to study the life of the Savior because he and our Father are the best leaders ever so its safe to say if we do what they do then we can be good leaders too. 

  On Thursday night we conducted exchanges with a pair of elders in our zone and as I left the house with all my stuff to stay the night at their house I said to Elder Vore, "I feel naked in some way." I realized why after I looked down and saw that I was not wearing shoes. The rest of the exchange was amazing with only one exception. We got six lesson's in Elder Christensen's area. He is an amazing missionary who just finished training and is leading his area. If you'll recall my email from last week I mentioned an amazing contact at the Tela Mart. Well as the man (Som) was in Elder Christensen's area we gave him as a referral to his area. But I still got to teach him because the return appointment they set was on the exchange day! Som was amazing. He asked incredible questions. Everything he asked led into the next point of the lesson perfectly! For example, while we were teaching about the importance of families in Heavenly Father's plan he asked how God gives us the gospel which led into prophets. He then asked about the life of Jesus Christ after we told him that prophets testify of Him. Then at the end of Christ's life he asked why there were so many churches today if Christ established only one. Then after talking about the apostasy he asked why there couldn't be one church that was right and so we told him how Joseph Smith wondered the same thing. Then after sharing the First Vision he asked how he can know its true for himself. At that point I decided it was the smoothest lesson I have ever taught.

  Here is where the exception comes in. On our bike ride over to the church to teach Som we had an accident. My leg got hit by an oncoming moto handle bar which shoved me into my companion who went straight onto the ground and messing up his wheel fairly bad. His wrist is a little stiff and my leg is bruised but other than that we're all good! I love Cambodian roads. 

  This week we shared the story of the Eagle and the Chickens in a few of our lessons. Here is how we tell it. There was once a farmer who had many chickens. One day he found a rather large egg and so he put it in the coupe and thought nothing more of it. The egg hatched an eagle and not a chicken. The eagle grew up with the chickens and did what the chickens did. While it was much larger than the other chickens, this eagle still scratched at the dirt and ate the rice thrown on the ground by the farmer. One day the nephew of this farmer comes to visit. His nephew is well educated and from the city. Having studied Eagles he says to his uncle, "why in the world is there an eagle among your chickens?" The uncle replies that its not an eagle, it is a chicken. The nephew argues about its size and the uncle about how it eats, walks, and squawks like a chicken and, therefore, is a chicken. The nephew decides that he is going to prove that this is indeed an eagle and takes it on top of the fence coaxing it to fly away. The eagle looks down towards the chickens and simply jumps down to join them in eating their simple grains of rice. He then takes him up on the roof and again tries to get it to fly but, seeing the chickens below, jumps down and joins them in eating again. Now the man is frustrated and his uncle is laughing at his meager attempts. So he takes the eagle to a high mountain overlooking a majestic valley. As the sun rises, the radiant light floods the valley and ignites the tree tops with a warm orange glow. At this moment a pair of eagles take off into the crisp morning sky. The eagle turned chicken watches them and finds itself spreading it's wings. With one jump of courage the Eagle joins it's brothers in their dance across the sky. 

  An eagle has amazing potential, some say it is the king of the skies. But if it lives and does as the chickens do then it will never realized such untapped potential. We are all sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. We are the princes and princesses of our Heavenly King. He has made it possible for us to become like him through his perfect plan of salvation.He takes us up onto rooftops and high mountains and tells us to fly, yet often we feel more comfortable among the chickens. We must remember that we have divine potential and that we were born to fly, not to scratch with the chickens. Another part of this story that we are not told is that of the returning eagle. I can imagine that this eagle, upon finding his new family, still had some bad habits. He likely still pecked like a chicken, he likely did not know how to hunt for his own food, and he probably struggled a little to get in the air that first few times. Christ wants to change us. He wants to make us into something majestic and powerful. We need only make that first leap of courage and realize that the journey will be long and hard but Christ will be the wind beneath our wings. He will be the lift to push us up when we begin to spiral down. Remember that Jesus has walked this path already. He has flown through these storms and he has prepared a way for you to do likewise. Let us strive for our divine potential. Let us not scratch with the chickens. Let us be Eagles, Children of God, Heirs to his Kingdom. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Elder L. Rogers Brewer